


King Kanto

by Vespiqueen



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vespiqueen/pseuds/Vespiqueen
Summary: Pokemon Master? No. Pokemon researcher? Also, no. It may have taken him a while to find his true calling, but Gary Oak is determined to be one hell of a journalist. Join him as he travels around the world, hoping to get the latest scoop while pissing off his rival in the process. | This is a Gary centric, slice of life type of series that will feature appearances from many other characters.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	King Kanto

_Remember that time I became a successful Pokemon paleontologist? Yeah, me neither. Turns out research just wasn’t my true passion and clearly being a Pokemon master didn’t work out for me either. So, right now you’re probably asking: what exactly are you good at? Everything – no, I really mean it. I’m naturally gifted at pretty much anything you can think of. But to answer your question more specifically, I’ve found my true passion in journalism._

Gary couldn’t help but do a double take when he passed by his dresser mirror – with noticeable stubble, deep creases under his eyes, and two large coffee stains on his t-shirt, he wasn’t looking like his usual, put-together self. It was obvious that the young adult was sleep deprived. He had stayed up all night working on his story for Daily Kanto, yet he still wasn’t satisfied. He was positive his story probably wouldn’t even make it to the damn paper at all. He knew what Lorelai was going to say too, “it’s a cute story Gary, but I just don’t think it’s right for tomorrow’s paper. Maybe next time.” He could practically picture the pity smile she was sure to flash afterwards.

Although he always claimed that his beloved grandfather was his idol, it wasn’t the truth. Well, not the whole truth. He definitely admired Professor Oak, but his professional idol was Lorelai. Not only was she a successful member of the Elite Four, but she also managed to find time to over-see Kanto’s biggest newspaper – Daily Kanto, a newspaper that was based in Viridian City. Even though working for a newspaper isn’t his end goal, it’s a great start. Gary busted his ass to get an internship at Daily Kanto, but only a month in, and he’s realized just how difficult the job truly is. 

He had imagined a life of stumbling upon action in the streets and getting the first scoop that he was sure would make the front page every day. After constantly seeing his name on the front page, people would notice the up-and-coming journalist and pay him the utmost praise and respect that he deserved.

Instead, he spent his nights trying to make stories about the 10% discount at the local Poke-mart sound interesting.

Adding onto his frustration was his new rival, Silver. Maybe calling him a ‘rival’ is a little extreme, but Gary couldn’t help but think of him as one. Silver glared at him like a rival would, spoke to him with the tone of a rival, and he’s almost positive nothing makes Silver happier than seeing him fail. Despite the hard work he put into getting accepted into the intern program, pretty much everyone there only thought he got in because of his last name.

Gary eyed his piece of paper once again before violently ripping it apart. He then sighed and glanced at the clock – it was almost one in the morning. He knew that meant it was going to be another long night. He needed more coffee.

As Gary headed for the kitchen, he was surprised to receive a phone call. “Gramps? This late at night?” He wondered aloud. His body immediately became alert, it wasn’t like his grandfather to call so late. Something must have happened.

“Hello? Gramps you okay?” 

“Ah, y-yes. I’m just a little shaken up..” the professor responded. Gary immediately began to worry, “what happened? Is Agatha okay? Are you okay?!”

“Yes, we’re fine. It’s just..” The professor hesitated to finish his sentence.

“What is it?” Gary urged. 

“Well, we think we’ve just seen a ghost.” He quietly finished his sentence. Gary could tell by the tone of his grandfather’s voice that he was being serious, yet he found himself very irritated. Why in the world would his grandfather call him this late at night for something so absurd? They could have woken him up out of his sleep for this nonsense! Obviously, he hadn’t slept yet..but still.

Gary let out an irritated sigh before responding, “Gramps, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Agatha tends to surround herself with ghost Pokemon. Don’t tell me your memory’s already starting to fail ya.” 

The professor responded in an equally irritated tone, “This is a serious matter. I think it was the Pallet Town clown.” Suddenly, Gary was intrigued.

“The Pallet clown?” Gary questioned before continuing, “Are you sure, gramps?” 

“Yes, I’m positive. Now unfortunately, Agatha doesn’t have any of her Pokemon on her and I’ve left all of my Pokemon at the lab. I need you and Arcanine to come over here so we can investigate.”

“Give me 5 minutes,” the eager journalist said before abruptly hanging up. 

According to the rumors, the ghost of a clown was causing havoc among Pallet town citizens. He had heard about the Pallet clown rumors before, but Gary wasn’t one to believe in ghosts. He figured it was just some Gengar playing a few mean tricks, but if he could be the one to bust the Pallet Town clown theories he would be sure to make the front page!

\--

As Gary pulled up to the log cabin, he spotted two figures that were barely lit with the dim porch lighting. Leave it to Agatha to live in some creepy cabin in the woods. 

They had clearly been anticipating his arrival. He couldn’t help but notice how unusual they looked; Agatha was gripping his grandfather’s hand firmly and they both had frightened expressions on their faces. This Pallet clown must be the real deal to scare a ghost Pokemon master and the most skeptical man alive.

Agatha ushered Gary into the house before hastily explaining what they experienced. The entire time, she spoke in a whisper, as if speaking too loud would suddenly summon the clown again.

“So, he just stuck his head out from under the fire-place?” The young journalist questioned.

“Right when I was about to strike the match to light some of the wood!” Agatha responded with a shaky voice.

Gary looked at the fireplace for a moment and pondered whether he should look up the chimney or not. After a brief moment, he immediately crouched onto his knees and stuck his head into the fireplace. He couldn’t hesitate if he wanted to be a great journalist, despite how silly he felt.

Looking up into the chimney turned out to be pointless however, as it was too dark to see anything with the human eye. He withdrew from his odd stance and pulled out a pokeball. 

“Arcanine, do me a favor and see if you can smell the scent of another Pokemon.” 

“Oh, that won’t work!” Agatha interrupted. “Son, I know everything about ghost Pokemon. Hell, I can even feel their presence! Believe me when I say, that was not a Pokemon.”

This aggravated Gary who was very much a skeptic. “Not to burst your bubble, but ghost Pokemon are the closest things to actual ghosts. I’m sure it’s just a mischievous Haunter or-“

“Are you doubting me boy!?” She demanded. Gary immediately shrunk back. He wasn’t normally one to back down, but Agatha had a quality about her that could frighten even an Ursaring. She did have a point, though. Agatha has been training ghost type Pokemon for half of a century, surely she would be able to tell if one were in the room. 

Almost an hour passed by and there was still no clown sighting. Gary did a quick walk around the house and found nothing, which to be fair, was exactly what he expected. What could a ‘ghost’ possibly leave behind? Frustrated with the lack of activity and the lack of sleep, the young journalist decided that it was time to head home. Professor Oak and Agatha didn’t put up much of a fight since they were both growing tired as well. 

But when Gary put his hand on the doorknob, he realized it was locked. He tried to wriggle the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. Just then, the lights went out. 

Gary spun on his heel in the direction of the couple and made his way towards them in the dark, while they called out his name for guidance. He felt the hair on his arms stand up. There was definitely someone or something in the room with them. The trio huddled together in the dark, all three at a loss for words. There was no sound at all except for three rapidly beating hearts. Well, no sound until there was sound. Sounds of laughter.

“Is that..” Professor Oak asked out loud, too afraid to finish his own sentence. 

Before Gary could give it much thought, he felt a presence behind him. He immediately turned around expecting to see a person. Unfortunately, it was still incredibly dark, but he could just barely see what he assumed was a figure. He didn’t get a good look however, because the figure was running. It ran across the den into the hallway and before he knew it, he was running too. Agatha and Oak stood dumbfounded for a moment before following behind.

Gary found himself in what he could only assume was the master bedroom, while Professor Oak and Agatha came running in behind him. Although the room was dark, the moonlight from the window illuminated the room just enough for him to make out his surroundings. He scanned the room, but the figure was gone. 

“How..” he muttered out loud. Although the young journalist was breathing heavily, he had an adrenaline high and he was not ready to give up his search just yet. He reached for his belt but was mortified when he realized his pokeball was not there. Gary began to frantically search his pockets, yet he still could not find Arcanine’s pokeball.

“Gary what’s wrong!?” The Professor cried out while Gary hastily ran for the bedroom door. Gary yanked on the doorknob, just for his worst fears to come true: the door was locked, and he was separated from his beloved Pokemon.

“My Arcanine! I must have left his pokeball in the living room!” Gary shouted as he continued to pull on the doorknob. He then backed up and prepared himself to try and bust the door down. Before he could make contact with the door, his grandfather interjected.

“Calm yourself!” The professor demanded.

“But my Arcanine-“

“You’re not thinking clearly!” The Professor cut him off and then continued, “Take a deep breath and let’s try and think rationally. When the clown showed itself to Agatha and I, it had intentions of frightening us but it’s second appearance seems to be more of a distraction..”

“It planned this!” Agatha said, finishing the elder Oak’s sentence. “The clown must have known we would chase them and took it as an opportunity to separate you from his Arcanine.”

“But why!” Gary shouted, clearly exasperated. He took a deep breath and then began pacing around the room. “What would a clown want with my Arcanine? I don’t understand. This is the type of thing I would expect from Team Rocket, not from the ghost of a fucking clown-“

“Language!” The elder oak interrupted his grandson’s thoughts.

“Sorry gramps..I’m just frustrated.” He sighed. The professor put his hand on his grandson’s shoulder to comfort him. “I know. This entire situation is very troubling. But that was no poacher, I’m afraid that ghost is the real deal.”

“A poacher? A poacher..” The journalist muttered out loud, his voice full of desperation. Suddenly, a light went off in Gary’s head. 

“A Poacher…that’s it!” Gary exclaimed as he quickly jumped up.

Agatha and Professor Oak exchanged confused glances. Gary began pacing around the room while he gave his explanation, “Normally, when someone tries to separate a trainer from their Pokemon, we assume it’s a bad guy, like Team Rocket! But clearly, that clown isn’t a member of some evil team. So, the question is, what does the clown want with my Pokemon?” Gary paused for a moment to give the couple a chance to respond but was met with silence instead. He let out a sigh of disappointment before continuing, “Why does anyone get a Pokemon? To form a bond. A friendship! That clown wants a friend!”

Gary looked up at the couple expecting to see elated faces, only to see the looks of confusion on their faces had worsened.

“Erm. Why would the ghost want to be friends with a Pokemon?” The professor questioned.

“Because it is a Pokemon.” Gary stated. 

And as soon as the words escaped from his mouth, the lights in the house turned back on. The bedroom door unlocked itself and cracked open.

Gary exchanged terrified glances with the couple before turning to face the door. He took a gulp and then slowly approached it, his hand shaking while he gripped the doorknob. When he opened the door, he expected to see the clown, but was surprised to see what he was sure was a Pokemon instead. 

At first glance, Gary thought it was a Pikachu, but as he got closer, he was terrified to realized whatever it was, was definitely not a Pikachu. It seemed to be wearing a yellow rag with similar markings to that of the Pikachu species and he silently prayed that it was not the remains of an actual Pikachu. It had beady, black eyes on its stomach which Gary refused to make eye contact with. He felt like he was walking in slow motion.

“A mimikyu.” Gary was taken back at the sound of Agatha’s voice from behind him. “I’ve read about them, but I’ve never actually seen one in person,” she continued, “They’re a ghost type, but not one that’s native to Kanto. They say that their true form is so hideous, they disguise themselves as cute Pokemon to fool trainers instead.”

“Like a Pikachu.” Gary guessed out loud.

He hesitantly approached the Mimikyu, but as soon as he got close, he was suddenly knocked to the ground. 

“He was attacked from behind! There must be another ghost!” Professor Oak yelled as he attempted to run towards his grandson. Agatha intervened and stopped the older man from getting too close to the Pokemon. “No, that was shadow sneak. It’s a move that allows the Pokémon’s shadow to attack.”

Gary quickly jumped back to his feet, but instead of attempting to approach Mimikyu again, he made a bee line for his living room. Mimikyu attempted to attack Gary again, but he just barely managed to dodge the attack before he dove for his pokeball and pressed the release button.

“Arcanine use flamethrower on Mimikyu!” 

Arcanine was trained to react quickly, but when he turned around to face his foe, he quickly stopped himself from attacking. There was no Pokemon before him, instead it was his trainer?

“Arcanine attack!” The human shouted, adding onto the poor Pokémon’s confusion. Arcanine backed up and whimpered at the confusing sight of not one, but two Gary Oaks.

Gary himself was in shock at the sight of his look alike. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, the foe Gary commanded another attack. Arcanine once again ignored the command and whimpered in response.

“Copy-cat,” Professor Oak immediately recognized the move, “the Mimikyu is using this move to imitate Gary. It’s probably how the Pokemon was able to appear as a clown.”

Gary couldn’t stand to see his Pokemon look so helpless. He wanted to comfort his beloved partner and assure Arcanine that he was the real Gary. But before he could reach out his hand, he caught the fake Gary change forms from the corner of his eye. He immediately dove on top of his Pokemon in an attempt to protect him from the attack before he was hit with an intense pain all over his back. He could hear the screams from his grandfather and Agatha in the distance.

He grimaced through the pain before opening his eyes to check and see that the Pokemon he had shielded was safe. Arcanine whimpered beneath him, distraught at the sight of his injured trainer. Rage immediately took over the Pokemon and he ran from under Gary then shot a strong, quick fiery ball onto the Mimikyu.

Arcanine and Mimikyu engaged in a powerful battle but the ghost type was no match for Gary’s skilled fire type. As Mimikyu’s strength began to wear out, Gary saw his opportunity.

Arcanine aimed another flamethrower at Mimikyu, but when the flames disappeared, Mimikyu was not in sight. Instead, there was a new pokeball sitting on the floor that made a slight clicking noise. Gary had caught the Mimikyu.

\--

“You really should get some sleep son.” Professor Oak suggested with worried eyes.

“I’ll just drink a couple of monsters or something. You know I can’t call in sick gramps.” Gary stated, still staring at the pokeball in his hands. He tossed it back and forth between palms before sighing. “I can’t believe I still don’t have a story. I debunked the Pallet Town clown and I have no proof. What type of journalist am I to leave the house without a camera..” Gary whined, obviously disappointed in himself.

“A damn good one!” Agatha stated as she walked over to the younger Oak with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands. She handed him the coffee then placed a firm grip on his shoulders. “Listen here, I’ve been specializing in ghost type Pokemon for half of my life and it may not look like it, but that’s a long time!” She chuckled. “You figured out it was a Pokemon before I did. You should be proud! And you managed to catch the rowdy little thing.”

Gary couldn’t help but smile a little at the words of encouragement. He held out the pokeball and gestured for Agatha to take it. “You should have it. I think you’d be able to train it better than I would.” Agatha happily took the pokeball from Gary’s hand before walking back towards the kitchen.

Gary leaned his head back against the couch cushions and ignored the urge to fall asleep. Even if he didn’t have to work, he knew he wouldn’t be sleeping well until he felt he truly deserved it. He was always incredibly critical of himself, and he was taking his lack of proof especially hard. Despite Agatha’s kind words, he still felt like a dumbass.

“She’s right you know,” Professor Oak said as he took sips of his own coffee, “you should be proud of yourself. I know I am.”

Gary was tempted to pinch himself. He was not expecting to hear that from his grandfather, and he had to fight the urge to ask him to repeat himself. Gary would never let him know but hearing those words meant the world to him. He smiled and took a sip of his coffee. “I might not have gotten the story I wanted this time, but I guess there’s always next time.”


End file.
